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Neil Diamond lyric question
- Thread starter ixnay
- Start date
R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
The way I heard it explained - "Cracklin' Rosie" isn't a woman at all - it is a bottle of booze. So the whole song is about a hobo getting drunk on a bottle of cheap wine.
It's about drinking a bottle of rosé wine.
CTListener
Walk of Fame Participant
Yep, and the song is written from the point of view of a bum. The line "Hitchin' on a twilight train" makes that pretty obvious. I wonder if he ran into Brook Benton in that boxcar musing about the Georgia rain and how it must be "rainin' all over the world."
R
rbrucecarter5
Guest
I wonder if he ran into a gambler that knows when to hold them, and knows when to fold them.
FTRlistenerAM
Frequent Participant
Rich Appel played Cracklin' Rosie during a show featuring songs about food and drink in November 2019- the "Thanksgiving 30 Countdown." It was played back to back with Red Red Wine by UB40 (a Neil Diamond cover of course), and during the same hour as Elderberry Wine by Elton John. So it's quite clear what the song is about.
Hey, careful what you say about cheap wine. It was better than Ripple!
Here's a pic of the label:
For many songwriters, a bottle of wine can be likened to a woman.
The song was written by Neil himself by the way. Recorded in LA with the Wrecking Crew. Al Casey played guitar.
raccoonradio
Walk of Fame Participant
From a comment on a site with lyric meanings:
>
Neil Diamond said he was once travelling though a small hick town (forgotten where) which was on the outskirts of a Native American Reserve. The Natives were addicted to alcohol, but didn't have enough money to afford real drink. So they purchased an aftershave lotion from the local drugstore. Neil remembered it was pink in colour, and THIS WAS THE REASON the Natives called it "Cracklin Rosie"... as though it was some fancy sparkling wine or something.
And Neil was there when they sat around drinking this stuff in order to get drunk and forget all of their troubles... If you have EVER had to help get a loved one though the agony of alcohol addiction (like I have)... YOU'LL UNDERSTAND just how lovely... and how SAD, this song really is.
>
Neil Diamond said he was once travelling though a small hick town (forgotten where) which was on the outskirts of a Native American Reserve. The Natives were addicted to alcohol, but didn't have enough money to afford real drink. So they purchased an aftershave lotion from the local drugstore. Neil remembered it was pink in colour, and THIS WAS THE REASON the Natives called it "Cracklin Rosie"... as though it was some fancy sparkling wine or something.
And Neil was there when they sat around drinking this stuff in order to get drunk and forget all of their troubles... If you have EVER had to help get a loved one though the agony of alcohol addiction (like I have)... YOU'LL UNDERSTAND just how lovely... and how SAD, this song really is.
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